History Highlight:

Today in 1961, Martin Gore of Depeche Mode was born in London; he is 64. Gore began teaching himself guitar and keyboards as a youngster, learning from friends and playing along with hit songs. As a teen, Gore was recruited to join a band formed by school friends Andy Fletcher and Vince Clarke. With the addition of vocalist Dave Gahan, the four became the original lineup of Depeche Mode. To this day, Gore remains the band’s principal songwriter; in the studio and onstage, Gore plays guitar, keyboards and takes occasional lead vocals. Depeche Mode’s most recent album, Memento Mori, was released in 2023 and was influenced by the passing of bandmate Fletcher.

Also, Today In:

1963 - High school student Neil Young and his band, the Squires, entered a studio in Winnipeg to record their first single, "The Sultan."

1966 - Frank Sinatra went to No. 1 on the U.S. album chart with Strangers In The Night. The LP would be the most successful of his career, being certified Platinum for 1 million copies sold in the U.S.

1977 - Barry Manilow went to No. 1 on the U.S. singles chart with "Looks Like We Made It," his third U.S. No. 1.

1979 - Iran's new leader, the Grand Ayatollah Khomeini, banned rock 'n' roll as a corruptive influence on the people, a decision that is said to eventually have inspired the Clash song, "Rock the Casbah."

1983 - The Police kicked off the North American leg of their 107-date Synchronicity world tour at Comiskey Park (now rebuilt as U.S. Cellular Field) in Chicago. The Police also went to No. 1 on the U.S. album chart with Synchronicity, which spent a total of 17 weeks at No. 1.

1988 - After 49 weeks on the U.S. album chart, Hysteria by Def Leppard went to the No. 1 position. In sharp contrast to that on the singles chart, Richard Marx went to No. 1 with "Hold On To The Nights," his first U.S. No. 1 single.

1991 - Color Me Badd released their debut studio album, C.M.B. It features “I Wanna Sex You Up,” “All 4 Love,” and “I Adore Mi Amor.”

1991 - DJ Jazzy Jeff & the Fresh Prince released their fourth studio album, Homebase. It features "Summertime," "The Things That U Do," "Ring My Bell," and "You Saw My Blinker."

1991 - Marky Mark and the Funky Bunch released their debut studio album, Music for the People. It features “Good Vibrations” and “Wildside.”

1994 - The International Astronomical Union named an asteroid orbiting between Mars and Jupiter after Frank Zappa, who had died the previous December.

1996 - Fiona Apple released her debut studio album, Tidal. It features "Shadowboxer," "Sleep to Dream," and "Criminal."

2002 - RJD2 released his debut studio album, Deadringer. It features “Ghostwriter.”

2002 - My Chemical Romance released their debut album, I Brought You My Bullets, You Brought Me Your Love. The album was supported by the promotional single "Vampires Will Never Hurt You," as well as the singles "Honey, This Mirror Isn't Big Enough for the Two of Us," and "Headfirst for Halos."

2008 - A waxwork model of Amy Winehouse was unveiled at Madame Tussauds. The singer's parents, Mitch and Janis, revealed the model, "complete with trademark beehive and sailor tattoos," at the London attraction.

2010 - Kings of Leon have a strange encounter during a show in St. Louis when just a few songs into their set, they abruptly leave the stage, complaining about a flurry of bird poop coming from a flock of pigeons chilling in the rafters. The band never returns, and a full refund is made available to all concertgoers.

2011 - Amy Winehouse was found dead at her north London home at age 27; the cause of death was alcohol poisoning. Known for her deep vocals and her eclectic mix of musical genres, including soul, rhythm and blues, jazz and reggae, Winehouse's 2003 debut album, Frank, was a critical success in the U.K., and her 2006 follow-up album, Back to Black, led to five 2008 Grammy Awards, tying what was then a record for the most wins by a female artist in a single night, and made her the first British female to win five Grammys including three of the general field "Big Four" awards: Best New Artist, Record of the Year and Song of the Year. In 2012, Winehouse was ranked 26th on VH1's 100 Greatest Women In Music, and the BBC has called her "the pre-eminent vocal talent of her generation." During her career, Winehouse received 23 awards from 60 nominations. One side of Amy Winehouse that was little known to the general public was that throughout her life, Winehouse donated her money, music and time to many charities, particularly those concerned with children.

2012 - The Gaslight Anthem released their fourth studio album, Handwritten. It features “45.”

2013 - Beyonce soldiered through a concert in Montreal, Canada after her hair got tangled in the blades of a fan. She was performing "Halo" from an audience pit when the incident happened. She continued to sing her encore while security guards tried to extract her from the fan, which was mounted on the edge of the stage. Here's a link to the incident.

2013 - Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros released their self-titled third album. It features “Better Days” and “Life Is Hard.”

2021 - Leon Bridges released his third studio album, Gold-Diggers Sound. It features “Sweeter” and “Motorbike.”

Birthdays:

Tony Joe White (“Polk Salad Annie”) was born today in 1943.

Dino Danelli of the Young Rascals was born today in 1944.

Andy Mackay of Roxy Music is 79.

David Essex (“Rock On”) is 78.

Blair Thornton of Bachman Turner Overdrive is 75.

John Rutsey of Rush was born today in 1952.

Janis Siegel of Manhattan Transfer is 73.

Chris Pinnick of Chicago is 72.

Nick Menza of Megadeth was born today in 1964. He passed away in 2016.

Tim Kellett of Simply Red is 61.

Rob Dickinson, lead singer of Catherine Wheel, is 60.

Slash (born Saul Hudson) is 60.

Sam Watters of Color Me Badd is 55.

Alison Krauss was born in Decatur, Illinois; she is 54. Lately, Krauss has been frequently in the company of her recent collaborator Robert Plant (Krauss and Plant performed at Mystic Lake in 2024 in support of 2021’s Raise the Roof), but her career in music spans back to her childhood. In addition to her angelic soprano voice, she is an accomplished fiddler, and her work as Alison Krauss & Union Station played a major role in bluegrass music’s rise in popularity; their latest album, Arcadia, released March 28, 2025. Krauss has won 27 Grammy Awards, the fourth-most of all time, and performed two songs featured on the Cold Mountain soundtrack at the 2004 Grammys.

Chad Gracey of Live is 54.

Fran Healy, lead singer of Travis, is 52.

Michelle Williams of Destiny's Child is 46.

Steve Jocz of Sum 41 is 45.

Matthew Murphy of The Wombats is 41.

Highlights for Today in Music History are gathered from This Day in Music, Song Facts, CBS News, and Wikipedia.